North Korea is “successfully overcoming” the crisis posed by the current nationwide outbreak of COVID-19, the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun stated in an editorial (sasol) on its front page Sunday, as the country reported a “reduced” daily caseload.

The editorial boasted that North Korea has achieved what no other country in the world could and criticized other countries for “weak” lockdown policies, though official statistics showing an unprecedentedly low fatality rate among its unvaccinated population have invited skepticism.